possible Samsung law suit

[argonsagas]

https://www.classaction.org/news/samsung-electric-ranges-can-turn-on-too-easily-due-to-accidental-contact-class-action-claims

Does anyone know how to get more information about this class action lawsuit filed against Samsung in New Jersey?
if so, can we do anything about it in Canada?


Four years ago I bought one of the ranges cited in the lawsuit and have had the identical problems with it.

Samsung replaced the switches under warranty when I complained about the problem, but the replacement switches do the same.

[bccap]

From what I read in theory yes you can join a US class action suit . But in practice it doesn't happen .....Here is a quote from the below source......

" U.S. courts are open to foreign litigants and nothing textually says foreign citizens cannot “join” or take part in American class action cases. But in practice, it is almost always true that you must be a U.S. resident in order to take part in a class action lawsuit filed in the United States.

The two-fold reason for this is related to the rules American courts must follow when weighing which consumers can and should be covered by a class action and the uncertainty as to whether a foreign court will uphold a U.S. court’s judgment or settlement terms (we’ll get into this more below). The two are related."

https://www.classaction.org/blog/can-i-join-a-class-action-lawsuit-if-i-dont-live-in-the-united-states

[argonsagas]

Thanks, Garth.
I spoke with Samsung and they told me to contact their local repair entity.

I gave a full description of the concerns to them and to their repair company, who are sending someone tomorrow.

They have not confirmed whether or not, or how much, they will charge me for the repairs.


I have washer and dryer from them that have had zero problems and both work well after more than ten years.
Since then I bought appliances for my own home and for Mother-in-law.

Two microwaves, a refrigerator and this stove/range have all had significant problems.

[argonsagas]

To explain a bit more:

The switches on our stove became a major concern after we left the house for a short time and returned to find the largest burner glowing bright red: it was at its maximum setting.

Nothing had been left on the stovetop so there was no fire, but the wall-mounted microwave above the stove was hot.
That may have been why the microwave later developed problems, but I do not know..

We had not used the stove for more than an hour before going out so nothing made sense,

When it happened two more times I had to find out why as until then we had thought we must be making some stupid errors and blamed ourselves

I knew the knobs had to be pressed in and turned to activate the burners.
What I did not realize until looking for a cause of this big safety concern was that the front-mounted switches had apparently been designed to make that action almost super-easy, so that, when the knob was only very lightly pressed the internal mechanism automatically turned and the burner instantly went from OFF to MAXIMUM .

This knob action required so little pressure that it could literally occur as you walked by the stove and you happened to brush against it, or, as the service
tech who came to do the switch replacements told us, it had happened to other owners when they were leaning over the stove to reach the wall-mounted microwave
With either action, you may not realize that you had any contact with the knobs until the burner(s) suddenly became very hot.

[argonsagas]

An update is due, and this one is welcome.

I do not know how the class action law suit is coming along, but the Consumer Product Safety Commission has made a decision on the exact same subject and Samsung has relented and admitted that their products....multiple models of their product.....are unsafe and that they are known to be fire hazards to the customers who bought them. .

Samsung acknowledged the safety concerns,are real and will take some corrective action to protect the consumers they have been.jerking around for just about ten years.

What will happen in Canada? That is not mentioned in the news article, but the many more numerous consumers in the USA will, hopefully, be a little safer when Samsung finally takes positive action to protect Samsung customers from the immense corporate greed of Samsung. the Terrible..

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2024/Samsung-Recalls-Slide-In-Electric-Ranges-Due-to-Fire-Hazard

Edit....this New York Times article gives more details, but just the headline shows the huge numbers involved

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/business/samsung-recalls-electric-stoves.html

.

[dgates1]

This recall was on my local news this morning. I have one of these ranges, and yes I have had the burners come on unintentionally by someone leaning on the front. Most times our range is clear of anything on top, but there has been two times we had groceries that were just brought in. Once burned a plastic grocery bag, once melted the bottom of a gallon of milk. Happens more often then you would think. I'm religious now about checking them if I see anyone hanging out by the range. We have people over frequently.

I have turned on the WiFi "notification" that is supposed to tell you when the range is turned on... but it does not work. I do get the notifications for when the oven is preheated.

The recall is good, but who wants those ugly covers or locks on their beautiful stove/range? I guess it's better than injury or a fire.

[argonsagas]

This recall was on my local news this morning. I have one of these ranges, and yes I have had the burners come on unintentionally by someone leaning on the front. Most times our range is clear of anything on top, but there has been two times we had groceries that were just brought in. Once burned a plastic grocery bag, once melted the bottom of a gallon of milk. Happens more often then you would think. I'm religious now about checking them if I see anyone hanging out by the range. We have people over frequently.

I have turned on the WiFi "notification" that is supposed to tell you when the range is turned on... but it does not work. I do get the notifications for when the oven is preheated.

The recall is good, but who wants those ugly covers or locks on their beautiful stove/range? I guess it's better than injury or a fire.

The problem occurs due to two reasons, the first being the knob is SO easy to push down. It requires almost no pressure to do it.

The second one is the extremely bad internal switch design: the motion of pressing the knob down even slightly instantly changes the downward pressure to rotary movement, and the rotary movement turns the burner on FULL.

.
Samsung has known about the problem for years, but they not only refused to openly acknowledge that there was a problem, or to warn customers of the danger, they continued making more models with the same switches.and the same risks to their customers. I think the production continued for ten years and they only stopped making them this year.

I know they were aware of the problem for years because even I informed them of it years ago. Additionally, the service technician they sent to my house told me Samsung had sent his company out to do repairs of this type multiple times. He said he had replaced many switches already, often because customers had over-the-range microwaves and they unknowingly turned the stoves ON while reaching over the stove to use said OTR microwave and my complaint about simply walking past the thing and brushing against it so lightly that the contact was not eve noticed was already known. At the time of my own problems with Samsung, which was while the stove was under warranty, I had a long and detailed on-line discussion with Samsung customer service about my safety concerns and kept pushing them to let me speak with management.
They would not send me "up the ladder" and refused to give me any contact information of any superiors within the company..

Samsung did, however, commit to providing me with a full transcript of my entire conversation.....but never did.
When I went back to them and tried to get that transcript they refused. I did have some screen shots though.



Here is a suggestion:

It is not a perfect solution, and the switches are not rendered fully safe, but the risk may be considerably reduced:

Remove the knobs and put a small but fairly strong coil spring under each knob

Once done you will have to press harder to activate the switch. How much more pressure depends on the choice of spring, but if you get that right you will have a safer appliance. than Samsung designed and sold.

NOTE however that, over time, the springs will likely weaken and have to be replaced.

[earlfor]

Ron, there are limited ways that an electric stove burner can be turned on. Consequently, there is usually a compatible list of knobs/switches/styles on electric stoves that have the function you're looking for with none of the faults.. It may be a reasonably simple task to cross reference a control knob.switch that will work. My range has all the controls on a raised rear panel. It isn't possible to "brush" up against the stove and turn anything on.

[LAB3]

Ron, there are limited ways that an electric stove burner can be turned on. Consequently, there is usually a compatible list of knobs/switches/styles on electric stoves that have the function you're looking for with none of the faults.. It may be a reasonably simple task to cross reference a control knob.switch that will work. My range has all the controls on a raised rear panel. It isn't possible to "brush" up against the stove and turn anything on.

That would certainly make a lot of sense!

[argonsagas]

Ron, there are limited ways that an electric stove burner can be turned on. Consequently, there is usually a compatible list of knobs/switches/styles on electric stoves that have the function you're looking for with none of the faults.. It may be a reasonably simple task to cross reference a control knob.switch that will work. My range has all the controls on a raised rear panel. It isn't possible to "brush" up against the stove and turn anything on.

Agreed, but when you are buying a brand new stove from what you feel is a respected and respectable manufacturer, you expect the item to be safe from the moment you buy it, and that the same level of safety should persist with the device.. It would appear that, with over a million devices sold in America alone, over a period of about ten years and all with the same switches, a great many other people had the same expectations as I did when making their respective purchases.

In regard to alternate switches, when the switches that Samsung had already replaced on my stove because of the cited problem entirely failed last year I asked repair companies about safer replacements and was told to stay with OEM switches.

As I described above, and I acknowledge that it is not a perfect solution, there is a simple way to increase the amount of force required to activate the switches and, if that succeeds then it simultaneously reduces the risk of accidentally causing fire and/or injury to property or self. that exists with the original design. I used fairly strong springs and with them we have not had a recurrence of switch failure.

If such a simple and effective change can thought up by me, then with the massive amount of expert knowledge and experience that exists with Samsung once the defect became known something of this nature could have been built into the switches.. Instead, Samsung continued using the same design on their switches for years after knowing of the inherent problems.

[earlfor]

Agreed, but when you are buying a brand new stove from what you feel is a respected and respectable manufacturer, you expect the item to be safe from the moment you buy it, and that the same level of safety should persist with the device.. It would appear that, with over a million devices sold in America alone, over a period of about ten years and all with the same switches, a great many other people had the same expectations as I did when making their respective purchases.

In regard to alternate switches, when the switches that Samsung had already replaced on my stove because of the cited problem entirely failed last year I asked repair companies about safer replacements and was told to stay with OEM switches.

As I described above, and I acknowledge that it is not a perfect solution, there is a simple way to increase the amount of force required to activate the switches and, if that succeeds then it simultaneously reduces the risk of accidentally causing fire and/or injury to property or self. that exists with the original design. I used fairly strong springs and with them we have not had a recurrence of switch failure.

If such a simple and effective change can thought up by me, then with the massive amount of expert knowledge and experience that exists with Samsung once the defect became known something of this nature could have been built into the switches.. Instead, Samsung continued using the same design on their switches for years after knowing of the inherent problems.

Until the costs of injuries and lawsuits exceeds the cost of correcting switches, it is cost effective to do nothing.

[argonsagas]

From a beancounter perspective, I feel sure, close to certain, you are right.

From any other perspective, it is all wrong.

[LAB3]

From a beancounter perspective, I feel sure, close to certain, you are right.

From any other perspective, it is all wrong.

That's how the corporate hive- mind sees it. Don't forget, you're dealing with a corporation not an individual, they have no moral objectivity other than to make the maximum amount of money for their shareholders.

Like I've said before, I'll believe that corporations are people when the state of Texas executes one.

[Rob S.]

Until the costs of injuries and lawsuits exceeds the cost of correcting switches, it is cost effective to do nothing.

Fight Club!